What I Cooked for My Scruff Date. A True Story.

Did you know that hook-up apps are actually used as dating sites by some people? There are actually people on them that, are looking for love, a relationship and want to have a romantic first date and not just have a casual fling….So I tested it out.

This became very apparent to me over the summer that I noticed there were far more people of there that had looking for a relationship in there profile. As a single guy living in Madrid for 4 months I decided to experiment by using my Scruff account to find dates. I stumbled across a profile of a very tall, sexy, hairy guy that I recognized from a few weeks prior while I was shopping in a grocery store. We bumped into each-other at the meat counter, no joke. When I saw his profile and it read that he was looking for things other than just sex I thought I would love to invite this stunning man on a date and cook him dinner. So I did, and he accepted. That Friday night he was coming over for dinner…score!

I thought about what to cook for him. Having seen him at the butcher (and is Scruff profile) I already knew he liked meat… so a meat dish it will be. He was a big muscular guy so he looked like he liked to eat (definitely my kinda guy)…I decided on a pretty simple but hearty and delicious recipe I had up my sleeve, called Pollo Saltimbocca or Chicken Saltimbocca, my seductive version of a classic italian chicken dish that is an absolute winner. Its not overly complicated, it has a sophisticated flavor profile, and its slightly spicy, velvety lemony sauce will inspire a sexy evening to follow. This dish was such a hit with him he asked for a second date, and a third. Here’s how to captivate that Scruff date with your skills in the kitchen:

Pollo Saltimbocca

Ingredients

Serves 2

4 chicken breasts

2-3 slices of Prosciutto or Serrano Ham

1/2 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes

1/4 cup of good pitted green olives cut in halves

1/4 cup of pickled jalapenos

2 whole cloves of garlic

2/3 cup of good white wine

2 pats of butter

whole lemon, half for juice, half for garnish.

olive oil

flour for dredging

4-5 fresh sage leaves.

salt

pepper

Get a large saute pan on medium-high heat. Add olive oil to almost coat pan.

Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the breasts. Dredge then in flour. Add the garlic cloves whole to the oilve oil. Stir around the pan for 1 minute. When the oil is hot enough place the dredged chicken to the pan and let them get golden brown on each side (cook 6-8 minutes on each side) with out moving them too much in the pan.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove them from the pan and set aside. Add the prosciutto or Serano ham and sage leaves to the pan, cook for a few minutes until they get a bit crispy. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, stirring to make a sauce that thicken a little. Lower the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes, olives and jalapeños and stir for a few minutes till the sauce thickens a little, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and stir until it melts in the sauce. Add the chicken back to the sauce and combine. Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over the chicken and sauce. Taste the sauce for seasoning. Cook for 3-4 more minutes half covered.Take off heat. Plate the chicken with roasted potatoes, spooning more sauce mixture over the chicken. Garnish with lemon wedges and sprinkle with chopped parsley.